hello dear friends,

thank you truly for all your kind words and concern on my previous post, chuck is healing and will be back to new in no time. i'm writing now from my ipad, since my computer became infected this week and is out of order. there was a lot of good and not so good in our family this last week. my 96 year old nana passed away. there is so much that deserves to be said, but suffice it to say she was well loved and she loved us back, times forever. our puppy owen became sick, he stopped eating and couldn't keep anything down. trips to the vet, including x-rays, meant possible surgery. my youngest son left for university two states away, on the eve of his birthday. i couldn't bake him a cake or hug him on his day. then while searching for a knitting pattern, i accidentally infected my computer. and finally, my auntie (who'd been in assisted living) fell ill also two days ago and passed away today.

my mom, who has alzheimers, doesn't know that her mother and sister have died. my cousins thought that nana was calling auntie to heaven, to be with her. I like thinking that too. our family is planning a memorial to celebrate their lives. that will be easy to do.

tonight i feel a comforting calmness, my nana and auntie are together and at peace. my two youngest are happy and thriving away from home and on their own. owen gave us a scare but now he's back to his rambunctious self. my computer is still down, and ordinarily that would seem like a big deal, but now it just doesn't.

at the inn

redwood forest, big sur, california

deetjen's big sur inn*in the early 1930's, helmuth deetjen, a norwegian immigrant, came with his wife helen to big sur. they bought a hundred and twenty acres of land in castro canyon and began building a homestead. before highway one was completed in 1937, castro canyon was a traditional stopover for travelers making their way along the coastal wagon road. the deetjens welcomed overnight guests, and thus, the big sur inn was created.
over the years, deetjen built norwegian-style rooms and gave each of them a name:antique apartment, new room, champagne, chalet and granpas. all work was done by "granpa" deetjen and friends using locally milled, scavenged redwood.
the inn exists today because, when deetjen died in 1972, he left the inn "to be forever enjoyed by transient guests wanting to experiance the
peace, friendship and beauty that can be found at the inn".
the inn is a registered national historic site. it is operated by the deetjen's big sur inn preservation foundation.*

last friday, at daybreak, we took off for the anniversary weekend we had planned since october. unstormy weather finally permitted, after two cancellations, the third time was a charm! our destination was deetjen's big sur inn, two hundred miles up the coast...

we spent 3 wonderful days with no phones, internet, television. the weather was cold and clear. we hiked, we sat and did nothing, we listened to the creeks run, so full with water this time of year. we ate beautiful meals and drank wine (me) and beer (him). we took lots of photos. we slept late (for us) in our lovely cozy down bed. and we spent hours in the emergency care clinic when chuck cut his leg, requiring 13 stitches (and 15 shots). but he's okay, we were extremely grateful it wasn't worse and that he recieved such good care in this wilderness area.

we are back now, but my head is still in the redwood forest...



surf check on the way up the coast, moonstone beach, cambria

elephant seals, san simeon

bixby bridge, big sur

view from our room

breakfast at deetjen's

the forest

dinner at the inn

the start of a nearby trail

what happened on this trail

point sur lighthouse (on top of the big rock)

inside the lighthouse, i learned these prisms drew light down inside

illuminating the room where the lighthouse keeper worked

the lighthouse, i think it's scary up here

the prisms, a source of light before electricity

to get to the lighthouse, you park at the bottom of the rock and climb, first the road leading up and then many stairs

my new camera

happy cows that live near the lighthouse

moo = hmm?

back to the forest

knitting in our room

looking and listening closely revealed small critters of the forest...

big sur banana slug

ladybird beetles or ladybugs

webs i didn't mind seeing

happy anniversary honey

(glad to have figured out the self timer on my new camera)

nepenthe at night

meditative knitting by the creek

found at the big sur bakery, someone else's knitted coffee sleeves, cute!

saying goodbye to granpa's room... goodbye mouse (that lived in the room), goodbye racoons, goodbye wood stove, and cozy down bed, and record player with the scratchy records, goodbye rushing creek and goodbye redwoods...

goodbye big sur, till next time

thank you honey for such an unforgettable time, and thank you for coming along, it is always such a pleasure to share great adventures!
♥ lori

and a very good start (to the new year)

new years day we


slept in
took hot cocoa and a lattes to the beach
went for a walk and watched owen run willy nilly (photos follow) :)
gave him a bath afterwards ( a two person job)
ate cinnamon buns for lunch
and homemade soup and biscuits for dinner
watched silly old westerns
and listened to the rain in the evening.


it was a good start to the year.

'oh boy oh boy oh boy!' (owen)

'oh boy oh boy oh boy!'

'do i have to cross this?'




'i can do it, i can do it' (he did it!)

'oh boy oh boy oh boy! mom found me a ball!'

'look dad! a ball! yay!'

'mom mom mom mom mom mom mom'

'here is that river again, yipes'



'watch me, i am owen the willy nilly wonder dog,
i will cross this river!'



a rare find - baby abalone shell

'oh gulp, hello'

'gee, you are a gazillion times bigger than me'

'i bet no one ever calls you snowflake'

happy happy happy

'do i really look like a snowflake to you?'




'love love love love you dad'

'and you too mom'


hee hee he. i hope the start of your year had an auspicious, lovely

beginning too.

♥ lori

a very good year

our twenty ten in photos, january through december, and a few words, it was a very good year!

we went, did and saw:

january - camping to death valley, got our puppy and received these !

february - day trip to arroyo grande

march - camping to anza borrego ( badlands )

april - wildflower seeking (and camping) in carrizo plains
may - day trip to the mojave desert, epic month for finding these and was part of this

june - pt. sal hike

july - day trip to los olivos to pick blueberries

august - carpinteria state beach

september - new york city, and this came out!

october -weekend in terra bella (california) to be with old friends

november - where i spent most of my time (at work) while chuck was off on (work) trips

december - solvang with my sister & home

these were some of the things that filled our year in twenty ten. it's really hard to choose just one photo and one line to describe a month, or even a day. i had fun trying though. last night when chuck and i went out to dinner and a movie (champagne and True Grit) we agreed as we clinked glasses it was indeed a year to be grateful for, with the blessings of good health, good friends, much loved family, one little dog and adventures too, we hope for 2011 to be more of all these things. lots more. and i wish all good things for you too.

cheers and welcome twenty eleven!

♥ lori